LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 09/14

Bible Quotation for today/Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

John 3,5-8/Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, "You must be born from above." The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’

Pope Francis's Tweet For Today

I ask all people of good will to join us today in praying for peace in the Middle East.
Pape François
Aujourd’hui,je demande à toutes les personnes de bonne volonté de s’unir à nous dans la prière pour la paix au Moyen-Orient.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources For June 09/14

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/134067-abbas-peres-in-joint-peace-prayer-with-pope-in-vatican
Naharnet/Pope Francis on Sunday hosted an unprecedented joint peace prayer in the Vatican with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in a symbolic gesture aimed at fostering dialogue. Abbas and Peres greeted each other warmly after arriving in the Vatican and meeting Francis outside his residence, along with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I who was also present. All four then took a white minibus to the Vatican Gardens for the ceremony, after which Abbas, Peres and Francis are expected to plant an olive tree.
Peres said it was "an unusual call for peace", which included Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayers. Abbas said he hoped the ceremony would "help Israel decide" to make peace and told La Repubblica daily that the pope's invitation had been "courageous. "With this prayer we are sending a message to all believers of the three major religions and the others: the dream of peace must not die," he said. Peres, who is 90 years old and will be stepping down next month, was quoted by his office as saying that the spiritual call for peace was "very important." "I hope the event will contribute to promoting peace between the two sides and throughout the world," he said, adding that the conflict was "both political and religious" and "religious leaders resonate." Tensions are running high between the two sides following the formation of a new Palestinian unity government backed by the Islamist group Hamas. Israel has since announced plans for building 3,200 new settler homes and has said it will boycott what it denounces as a "government of terror." Peres on Sunday said the Palestinian unity government was "a contradiction that can't last very long," but Abbas defended it saying: "One should never reject a chance for dialogue, internally as well."
The Vatican is being realistic about the ceremony, which is unlikely to have any immediate effect. "Nobody is fooling themselves that peace will break out in the Holy Land," said Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Franciscan Order in the Middle East who is organizing the historic event. "But this time to stop and breathe has been absent for some time," he told reporters at a briefing, adding: "Not everything is decided by politics." Francis made the offer to Abbas and Peres on his first visit as pontiff to the Middle East last month and ahead of the meeting on Sunday he reiterated his call for a Catholic Church able to "shake things up." He has admitted it would be "crazy" to expect any Vatican mediation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but said that praying together might help in some way.
In a tweet from the Argentine pontiff's @pontifex account on Saturday, Francis said: "Prayer is all-powerful. Let us use it to bring peace to the Middle East and peace to the world."
The Vatican has defined the meeting as an "invocation for peace" but has stressed that it will not be an "inter-religious prayer", which would have posed problems for the three faiths.
Prayers were recited in the chronological order of the three monotheistic religions, starting with Judaism, followed by Christianity and then Islam. The prayers from each included an "invocation for forgiveness" and "invocation for peace" and were read in Arabic, English, Hebrew and Italian. Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim professor Omar Abboud, two friends of Francis' from Buenos Aires who traveled with him and prayed together on his trip to the Middle East also attended. Every detail of the event has been carefully planned. Friday was ruled out since it is a Muslim holy day and Saturday for the same reason for the Jewish community, while Sunday is Pentecost for Catholics -- a day of celebration of the Holy Spirit considered appropriate for the event. The choice of the Vatican Gardens as a location is also significant since it was considered the most neutral territory within the Vatican City, with none of the Christian iconography that might be seen as offensive to the other two faiths.
Source/Agence France Presse

Pope Francis kicks off Mideast peace summit of prayer
By The Associated Press | Vatican City /Sunday, 8 June 2014
Vatican officials insist no political agenda is lurking behind Pope Francis’ invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to pray for peace together in the Vatican gardens. They say no concrete initiatives are expected. But Sunday’s unusual summit - with Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers intoned in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica - could take on great significance on the ground. And it will certainly enhance Francis’ reputation as a leader unhindered by diplomatic and theological protocol who is willing to take risks for the sake of peace. “Peace is a gift of God, but requires our efforts. Let us be people of peace in prayer and deed,” Francis tweeted. “Prayer is all-powerful. Let us use it to bring peace to the Middle East and peace to the world.”

Al-Rahi: Failure to Elect President Dangerous Violation of Constitution
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi criticized on Sunday lawmakers for their failure to elect a new president following five rounds of the elections. He warned during Sunday mass: “The failure to elect a new president is a dangerous violation of the constitution and will lead to the crippling of the state.” “We pray to God to persuade the MPs to once again return to truthful acts to help the country out of its division and paralysis,” he added. The patriarch urged officials to assume their responsibilities for the sake of the country. Five rounds of the presidential elections have been held so far. Four of the rounds were not staged due to a lack of quorum at parliament caused by a boycott by March 8 MPs, namely those of the Hizbullah and Free Patriotic Movement blocs, over ongoing differences with the March 14 alliance over the elections. The next round is scheduled for June 9. It is expected to meet the fate of its predecessors given that the disputes between the rival parties have not been resolved.

Report: Al-Rahi to Renew Call on Political Powers to Elect President
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will renew next week his demands on political parties to exert greater efforts to hold the presidential polls and elect a new head of state, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. Sources close to Bkirki said that the patriarch will adopt a stronger tone in urging the officials to stage the elections. He has not however reached a “work plan that will serve this end, especially after various political powers have received official confirmations that there is no use in waiting for foreign intervention to hold the elections,” they added. Moreover, they noted that “banking on a dramatic change in position of any integral political camp is a waste of time.” “No party will take the risk of changing alliances,” explained the sources. “This means that the Lebanese powers should act rationally on the basis that they still have the initiative to stage the elections in their hands,” they continued. Five rounds of the presidential elections have been held so far. Four of the rounds were not staged due to a lack of quorum at parliament caused by a boycott by March 8 MPs, namely those of the Hizbullah and Free Patriotic Movement blocs, over ongoing differences with the March 14 alliance over the elections. The next round is scheduled for June 9. It is expected to meet the fate of its predecessors given that the disputes between the rival parties have not been resolved.

Hizbullah, FPM Hit Back at Soaid over Lassa, Slam 'Sectarian Incitement'
Naharnet/Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement snapped back Sunday at March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator ex-MP Fares Soaid over the land row in Lassa, with Change and Reform bloc MP Simon Abi Ramia describing him as one of the politicians “who cannot survive unless they see blood.”
“Disputes in the area started in 1992 and there had been disagreements over land since 1936. Back then there was no FPM, General (Michel) Aoun or (Hizbullah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Abi Ramia said at a press conference.
And in 1994, “an attack took place against Lassa's bishop and the surveying process stopped, but back then the region's MPs were not Simon Abi Ramia, Walid Khoury or Chamel Mozaya,” the lawmaker added. “On November 15, 2013, (then-interior) minister (Marwan) Charbel went to Lassa and announced the start of obligatory surveying, and we were reassured by the developments,” Abi Ramia went on to say. He stressed that since November 2013 the FPM and Hizbullah have been calling for legal measures against anyone committing any violation, noting that a panel had embarked on surveying the land lots before its work was suspended. Clarifying the current dispute, Abi Ramia said “a Lassa resident called Yasar al-Meqdad has an official document that had been certified by Jbeil's district officer, the union of Jbeil's municipalities and Lassa's mayor.”“When he started the construction works in 2011, the (Maronite) diocese said his document was not based on any legal ground and lawsuits were filed. Seven hearings were held but they were not attended by all parties and the construction was halted,” the MP added.
“In recent days, Yasar al-Meqdad sought to build a ceiling, the thing that contradicts with the Lebanese judiciary's rulings, and as far as I know, the decision (to build the ceiling) was not taken by Hizbullah's Shoura Council,” Abi Ramia said sarcastically.
He revealed that he communicated with Hizbullah and its MPs and "they stressed the need to implement the law."
"Everything that is being said about a cover from the FPM and Hizbullah for the violation is incorrect," Abi Ramia emphasized.
On Friday, Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Claude Karam had launched a probe into allegations that residents began constructing a building on a property claimed by the Maronite church in Lassa, amid a judicial order to demolish everything built on the property Number 61, which Yasar al-Meqdad has used.
Real property Number 61 is claimed by the Maronite Patriarchate.
On Saturday, Soaid said Hizbullah and Aoun are to blame for any repercussions that might arise from the land row.
“There is an attempt to turn the dispute into a sectarian and political one. We have politicians in Lebanon who cannot survive unless they see blood. This incitement to violence will not change the political situation in Jbeil, as we're not currently engaged in an electoral battle," Abi Ramia said on Sunday, referring to Soaid without naming him.
"The political orientation of Jbeil will not change and let no one try to intensify the sectarian rhetoric," the MP underlined.
"How did they address the encroachments on land when they used to go to Shiite villages where they would be given a hero's welcome?" Abi Ramia added, in an apparent jab at Soaid.
The MP said he will hold meetings over the issue with Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
"We need to resume the panel's work, begin the surveying and finalize it in a decisive manner ... The panel must put an agenda for finalizing the issue and must write security reports about those who are obstructing its work. Those who obstruct its mission must be penalized," added Abi Ramia.
"We won't allow anyone to harm coexistence ... The law is the only framework that can preserve coexistence in Jbeil so that we can enjoy security and peace," he underlined.
Abi Ramia reassured that "we won't allow anyone to encroach on the Maronite Patriarchate's lands," noting that "whoever makes a violation must be stopped through the law."
"Everyone saw how we prevented demographic changes in several regions and this is our normal course in Lassa. We won't allow anyone to exploit 150 square meters of cement to stir a civil war across the 10,452 square kilometers," the MP added.
"The surveying of land in Lassa won't take more than six months if there is serious work," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah voiced its first official comment on the issue, with politburo member Ghaleb Abou Zainab noting that “the country is facing an ethical crisis in its political life.”
“Going too far in violating all norms for the sake of petty gains -- even if that came at the expense of coexistence and the unifying history of Jbeil and the neighboring areas – will only lead the person doing that to further deterioration and decline,” Abou Zainab added.
“What you have heard about Lassa from some parties are pure lies, as the case is an individual affair that should be addressed according to the applicable legal norms,” he said.
Abou Zainab noted that Hizbullah has informed all the relevant parties that it is still committed to the agreement that was reached with the patriarchate and that it “does not cover anyone.”
“We tell the 'sedition hunter' that what he's doing will not boost his popularity and that this incitement will not make him reach the parliament,” Abou Zainab added, in an apparent reference to Soaid.
“Hizbullah, the FPM and the people of Jbeil and the neighboring areas will remain advocates of coexistence who pride themselves with their cooperation, and they will only elect those who call for Lebanon's unity and coexistence as their representatives in parliament,” Abou Zainab stressed.
But Soaid hit back at the Hizbullah official's remarks, saying “Abou Zainab is telling me that I won't return to parliament unless I bow to Hizbullah's policies.”
“I say take Jbeil's MPs and we'll have Jbeil's dignity, pride and coexistence,” Soaid added, in remarks on his Twitter account.

Report: Geagea to Present Initiative to End Presidential Elections Deadlock
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is expected to launch an initiative next week to end the deadlock over the presidential elections, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. It said that his initiative will likely include “extending the hand to the March 8 alliance.”meeting of “powerful figures that restores the initiative to Bkirki”. “Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has so far been inquiring about the positions of various political parties ever since becoming victim of a media-political campaign over his recent visit to the Holy Land,” added An Nahar. Five rounds of the presidential elections have been held so far. Four of the rounds were not staged due to a lack of quorum at parliament caused by a boycott by March 8 MPs, namely those of the Hizbullah and Free Patriotic Movement blocs, over ongoing differences with the March 14 alliance over the elections. The next round is scheduled for June 9. It is expected to meet the fate of its predecessors given that the disputes between the rival parties have not been resolved.

SCC: Official Exams Will Not Be Held on Thursday if Wage Scale is Not Approved
Naharnet /The Syndicate Coordination Committee warned on Sunday Education Minister Elias Bou Saab against holding official exams without teachers and proper monitors, renewing its call on parliament to approve the new wage scale draft-law. It said during a press conference: “If parliament does not approve the new wage scale draft-law on Tuesday, then the official exams will not be held on Thursday.”
Parliament is scheduled to convene on Tuesday to address the draft-law amid concerns that lack of quorum will prevent the session from being held. The SCC added: “There are standards that should be adopted in holding official exams.”“We hope that the Education Minister will hold the exams in cooperation with the SCC,” it continued. “The Committee is united now more than ever and it will continue with its actions to achieve its demands,” it stressed. “We are the keenest people to hold the official exams,” it stated. “They are seeking to remove the official label of the exams and have a private company oversee them,” revealed SCC head Hanna Gharib. The SCC is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees. On Saturday, Bou Saab urged lawmakers to attend next week's parliamentary session. “If the parliament fails to endorse the pay hike draft-law we will plunge into a crisis, which is linked to the whole society,” warned Bou Saab, who is loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement. “Our priority is to stage the official exams,” he said. On Wednesday, the SCC declared a general strike at all ministries and public institutions on June 9 and 10, holding “the MPs who obstructed legislation for several months” responsible for a possible postponement of official school exams. The differences on the pay raise have led to wide range protests and strikes by public sector employees and teachers who are holding onto a 121 percent increase in their salaries. But the ministerial-parliamentary committee has proposed to reduce the total funding from LL2.8 trillion ($1.9 billion) to LL1.8 trillion ($1.2 billion).

Jumblat Says Won't Pull Out Helou even if Hariri Agrees with Aoun
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that he will not pull out MP Henri Helou of the presidential race even if an agreement was reached between al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun. “I'm not one of those who wait for external factors. I won't pull out Henri Helou even if Hariri reaches an agreement with Aoun,” Jumblat said in an interview with The Associated Press. Helou had garnered 16 votes during the first electoral session that was held on April 23 while 48 votes were given to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. The country was plunged into a presidential vacuum on May 25 after a boycott of voting sessions by most of the March 8 forces prevented the election of a successor to former president Michel Suleiman. “We in the Democratic Gathering bloc will not accept a settlement at the expense of Henri Helou … We will cast our votes and we either win or lose,” Jumblat added.
“We do realize that the external factor is essential, but if we keep awaiting the so-called Iranian-Saudi dialogue or the Iranian-American settlement, the issue might take a long time,” Jumblat said.
Separately, the PSP leader said the decision by Hizbullah to join the civil war in neighboring Syria and fight along President Bashar Assad's forces was a historic and moral "mistake" toward the Syrian people. The harsh criticism by Jumblat, who leads Lebanon's minority Druze sect, reflects his increasing pessimism about the bloody conflict next door, now in its fourth year.
Although he leads a minority sect, the MP is a pillar and a mainstay in Lebanese politics and is often referred to as the country's "kingmaker" because of his small bloc's track record of tipping the balance during key votes in parliament. "Hizbullah intervened in Syria and did not care about the Lebanese (public) opinion," Jumblat told the AP during a recent interview at his home in Beirut. "This is a historical and moral mistake toward the Syrian people.
Hizbullah's fighters openly entered the fight in Syria in May 2013 and were instrumental in helping Assad's troops push back rebels and re-capture strategic towns and rebel strongholds along the border with Lebanon and near Syria's capital, Damascus. This turned the tide in the conflict, giving Assad's forces the upper hand against the rebels seeking to overthrow the Syrian leader, who last week won a third seven-year term in a presidential election derided as a farce by the opposition. Now, the Syrian civil war will be "very long," Jumblat said. Instead of fighting in Syria, he said Hizbullah should have focused on archenemy Israel."I say that the guns should be directed toward the Israeli enemy," he added. Jumblat — whose Druze are like Assad's Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam — has been known for his shifting loyalties. His history with Hizbullah has been both complex and full of U-turns. After the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Jumblat sharply criticized Hizbullah and the Syrian government, which many in Lebanon blamed for the killing. Damascus denies it was behind Hariri's slaying. In May 2008, tensions between Jumblat's followers and allies on one side and Hizbullah on the other erupted into street fighting in Beirut and nearby mountains, killing 81 people and nearly plunging Lebanon into another civil war. In 2009, Jumblat reconciled with the Hizbullah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who the following year personally mediated a meeting between the Druze politician and Assad. That meeting was a sharp turn for Jumblat, who only three years earlier had called the Syrian president a "snake" and a "tyrant." Then, after his last visit to Damascus in June 2011, Jumblat again broke with Assad.
"We are still at the beginning of the war in Syria. In the long term, the map of the Middle East will be redrawn," he told the AP. "The main winner is the Islamic Republic," he said referring to Iran, which is one of Assad's strongest allies.The Syrian conflict, which has so far killed more than 160,000 people, a third of whom were civilians, has sharply divided the Lebanese, and violence has often spilled into the tiny Arab country, killing and wounding hundreds here. Many Lebanese Shiites back Assad, while Lebanon's Sunnis back the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to overthrow him. Jumblat has repeatedly urged his countrymen not to get involved in the Syrian conflict. But from the topic of war, the Druze politician is quick to turn to lighter subjects when prompted. Asked about actor George Clooney's engagement to 36-year-old Lebanese-British international law attorney Amal Alamuddin — who like Jumblat happens to be a Druze — he smiled and said he hoped the couple would soon visit the Druze heartland. Jumblat said he would be happy to welcome Clooney in his palatial mansion in the Druze village of Moukhtara, high in the mountains over Beirut. Clooney will bring us "great publicity," Jumblat said. "He can make a movie about the Druze sect."

Child Found Dead in Halba Dumpster, Killer Turns Himself in to Authorities
Naharnet/The corpse of a five-year-old Syrian child was discovered in a garbage dumpster in the norther region of Halba on Sunday, reported the National News Agency. It said that the body of Mohammed al-Khawli was found with multiple stab wounds in a dumpster near the entrance of the Halba Technical and Vocational School. Security forces and members of the army soon arrived at the scene for investigations. The murderer was soon identified as N.Aa., the owner of a bakery. He has since turned himself in over to the authorities. The reasons for the crime were not disclosed.

Report: Berri Seeking Agreement on New Wage Scale ahead of Tuesday's Parliament Session
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has launched a number of contacts with various concerned political sides over the new wage scale, reported the Kuwaiti daily Al-Anba on Sunday. March 8 camp sources told the daily that the speaker is seeking an agreement between the political powers ahead of Tuesday's parliament session that is aimed at discussing the wage hike. “The fate of tens of thousands of students hinges on the adoption of the scale,” they noted. “The scale should not be linked to other political files, most notably the presidential elections,” added the sources. Furthermore, they said that the role of the committee that was tasked with studying the scale is complete and parliament must now assume its role in this issue. There is no need to resort to a new committee to tackle the wage scale, they stated.
“Any effort to such an end will be interpreted as a sign of escaping one's responsibilities,” explained the March 8 sources. The daily An Nahar meanwhile reported on Sunday that Tuesday's session may not be held due to a lack of quorum seeing as each of the political parties has not made their position on this affair yet. Media reports have said however that the Change and Reform bloc MPs may attend the session. On Saturday, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab urged lawmakers to attend next week's parliamentary session. “If the parliament fails to endorse the pay hike draft-law we will plunge into a crisis, which is linked to the whole society,” warned Bou Saab, who is loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement. “Our priority is to stage the official exams,” he said. He expressed understanding to “any stance that would be taken by the Syndicate Coordination Committee if the draft-law wasn't approved,” holding the state “responsible” for any escalatory measures. The SCC is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees. On Wednesday, the SCC declared a general strike at all ministries and public institutions on June 9 and 10, holding “the MPs who obstructed legislation for several months” responsible for a possible postponement of official school exams. The differences on the pay raise have led to wide range protests and strikes by public sector employees and teachers who are holding onto a 121 percent increase in their salaries. But the ministerial-parliamentary committee has proposed to reduce the total funding from LL2.8 trillion ($1.9 billion) to LL1.8 trillion ($1.2 billion).

ISF Arrests ‘Satellite Dish Worker’ for Robbing Houses
Naharnet/The Internal Security Forces said Saturday that it arrested a robber after catching him red-handed at a house in Beirut, but his accomplice was still on the run. An ISF Intelligence Branch patrol apprehended M.Q. while he was robbing the home in the Ramlet al-Bayda district, claiming he was a satellite dish worker. The ISF said in its communique that M.Q. and the other man were specialized in convincing people that they could decode TV channels to allow residents to watch the World Cup matches. But one of them would go to the roof of the building and the other would enter the house and steal whatever he could carry, it added. M.Q., a former inmate, admitted that he has previously carried out similar robberies. The ISF asked the people who have fallen victim to their robberies to head to the Barbar al-Khazen barracks in Beirut’s Verdun neighborhood to identify the thief.

Iran Says Direct U.S. Talks Essential for Nuclear Deal
Naharnet /Iran's chief negotiator said Sunday that direct talks agreed between Tehran and Washington are essential, as discussions on his country's disputed nuclear program are entering a "serious phase".
The two countries will hold their first full-scale bilateral talks in decades on Monday and Tuesday, an unprecedented move toward securing a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the West.
Iranian officials will then hold discussions with Russia in Rome on Wednesday and Thursday. The Iranian foreign ministry said it was "working to arrange" other bilateral meetings with members of the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the U.S. and Germany -- before the powers meet in Vienna from June 16-20. The talks are aimed at securing a comprehensive agreement on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, which the west says is aimed at developing weapons, ahead of a July 20 deadline imposed under an interim deal agreed last November.
In return, Iran wants an end to wide-ranging economic sanctions, imposed as punishment for its atomic program and resisting extensive international inspections, that devastated its economy.
"We have always had bilateral discussions with the United States in the margin of the P5+1 group discussions, but since the talks have entered a serious phase, we want to have separate consultations," said Abbas Araqchi, Iran's chief negotiator in comments reported by state news agency IRNA. "Most of the sanctions were imposed by the U.S. and other countries from the P5+1 group were not involved," he added. Araqchi said the talks with the U.S. in Geneva will only address the nuclear issue, referring to Iran's ballistic missile program that Washington had hoped to include in negotiations.
A senior U.S. administration official said the talks "will give us a timely opportunity to exchange views in the context of the next P5+ 1 round in Vienna". The U.S. delegation will be led by Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Jake Sullivan, a White House adviser, previously part of a tiny team whose months of secret talks in Oman brought Iran back to the P5+1 negotiating table last year. Araqchi welcomed Burns's presence, saying he hoped it would be "as positive during these negotiations". After decades of hostility, Iran and the U.S. made the first tentative steps towards rapprochement after the election of self-declared moderate Hassan Rouhani as president last June. Rouhani called his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama shortly after he took office, which was followed by a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Source/Agence France Presse

Army Boss Sisi Sworn in as Egypt President
Naharnet/Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in as president on Sunday following a landslide election almost a year after he deposed Egypt's first freely elected leader and crushed his Islamist supporters.
The retired field marshal took the oath of office at the heavily guarded Constitutional Court and then left to attend a reception with foreign dignitaries. Western countries alarmed by the brutal crackdown on dissent following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year mostly sent low level representatives. Sisi scored a lopsided victory last month in an election boycotted by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and secular dissidents, also targeted by the army-installed government in the wide-ranging crackdown. Soldiers and police deployed in force in the capital in anticipation of protests by the battered Brotherhood movement and possible militant attacks. "I swear by almighty God to preserve the republican system, and to respect the constitution and the law and to care for the interests of the people; and to preserve the independence of the nation and its territorial integrity," Sisi declared in the ceremony broadcast live on television.
Elite policemen stood guard outside as helicopters dropped posters of Sisi on dozens of well-wishers who turned up to see the former army commander.
"I'm here to congratulate Sisi, the man who rescued us from terrorism and the Muslim Brotherhood," said one flag-waving supporter, Amira Ahmed. The presidency said he would later host a reception at Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace, with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, Arab royals and African leaders in attendance. Sisi will also sign a transfer of power agreement with Adly Mansour, a chief justice whom Sisi had installed as interim president when he ousted Morsi on July 3. Riding a wave of popularity since then, Sisi won the May 26-28 election with 96.9 percent of the vote against his only rival, leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi. The nature of the victory showed he still enjoyed immense support for his overthrow of the divisive Morsi, after millions held protests demanding an end to the Islamist's single year of turbulent rule. But the lower than anticipated turnout of about 47 percent denied Sisi the overwhelming mandate he had called for ahead of the vote.
The now banned Brotherhood had called for a boycott of the election. Sisi's main challenges will be to restore stability and revive the economy after three years of turmoil, following a 2011 uprising that ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak.
Since Morsi's ouster, the crackdown on his supporters has killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands behind bars, while militants have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers.
In a televised address after his victory was announced on Tuesday, Sisi called on Egyptians to "work to return security to this nation". Sisi's opponents fear that under his rule, Egypt will return to an autocratic regime worse than under Mubarak. In the run-up to the election, Sisi said that "national security" takes precedence over democratic freedoms. He will be the fifth Egyptian president to rise from the ranks of the military, and is expected to reassert the army's grip on politics. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who opposed Morsi's Brotherhood, called for a donor conference to help Egypt after the results were announced. The oil kingpin was to be represented at the swearing-in ceremony by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, alongside the rulers of Kuwait and Bahrain. Western nations, which congratulated Sisi on his election win while stressing the importance of safeguarding human rights, sent low-level officials or were represented by ambassadors. The United States has voiced concerns about "the restrictive political environment" during the vote, urging Sisi to show "commitment to the protection of the universal rights of all Egyptians".
Senior State Department official Thomas Shannon was to represent Washington at the palace ceremony.
Source/Agence France Presse

Iran president to visit Turkey with trade, Syria war on agenda
By By Parisa Hafezi | Reuters /By Parisa Hafezi
ANKARA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits Turkey on Monday to discuss expansion of trade and the civil war in Syria which has stained relations between the two neighbors.
The visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Turkey since 2008. Iran and Turkey are at odds over Syria, with Iran being a strong strategic ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the uprising against him, while Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting his opponents and giving refuge to rebel fighters.
Last year the election of pragmatist Rouhani, whose foreign policy of "prudence and moderation" has eased Tehran's international isolation, and his concern over the rise of al Qaeda in Syria have spurred hopes of a political rapprochement between Ankara and Tehran.
"Turkey is our neighbor and relations with the neighbors are the most important priority of Iran's foreign policy," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying on Sunday by the semi-official Fars news agency.
"During the president's visit, we will study many issues ... including the common problems we have in the region."
The deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party said Iran's Syria policy was on the agenda during Rouhani's visit.
"One topic we will discuss with Rouhani is Iran's position regarding the Syrian civil war," said Yasin Aktay on Thursday. "Iran's policy on Syria is not going to benefit Iran."
Analysts say an Iranian-Turkish rapprochement on Syria is essential for stability in the Middle East, even if it is just at the level of exchanging views.
TRADE AND COMMERCE
But while deep divisions remain between Ankara and Tehran over the conflict in Syria, the potential of an Iranian market of 76 million people with some of the world's biggest oil and gas reserves is a magnet for Turkish companies.
During Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iran in January, a preferential trade agreement was signed aimed at paving the ground to boost trade to $30 billion by 2015.
Iranian officials say trade between the countries stood at $22 billion (16.2 billion euros) in 2012, before dipping to $20 billion in 2013, and that it should reach $30 billion in 2015.
Iran was Turkey's third largest export market in 2012. In fact, Iranian media said, Turkey exports more than 20,000 products to Iran, among them gold and silver.
Washington has been unhappy over continued trade with Iran by its Turkish ally and has blacklisted some Turkish firms involved in sidestepping the sanctions, imposed on Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
Iran's Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi said "six cooperation agreements in various fields, including the energy sector, will be signed during Rouhani's visit to Ankara," Iran's state TV reported.
Analysts said one of the key topics during Rouhani's visit would be Turkey's demand for a discount on the price of natural gas from Iran, which Ankara deems too expensive compared with other suppliers like Russia and Azerbaijan.
Under a contract signed in 1996, Turkey imports 10 billion cubic meters per year of gas from Iran. The contract became active in 2001.
GAS PRICE DISPUTE
Turkey's state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) applied to an international court of arbitration in 2012 for a ruling on Iran's gas pricing. The case is still pending.
Iran has so far dismissed Turkish demands to drop the price of gas under the current agreement, saying that Tehran could sell more natural gas to its energy-hungry neighbor if a new agreement was signed.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters in an interview on Jan. 30 that Turkey could double the amount of natural gas it imports from Iran if the two countries can agree on a price.
Turkey depends on imports for almost all of its natural gas needs and is keen to increase oil and gas imports from Tehran in anticipation of sanctions against Iran's huge energy sector being dismantled.
"Turkey needs Iran's natural gas and oil and that is why Erdogan's government tries to maintain energy ties with Tehran," said Tehran-based analyst Hamid Sadeghi.
"Iran also needs Turkey as the main buyer of its natural gas. They will reach an agreement."
Rouhani's visit to Turkey takes place as Iran and six major powers prepare to hold another round of talks on a final deal aimed at ending a decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. A preliminary deal was penned in Geneva in November, under which Iran accepted to halt some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for partial easing of sanctions.
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Egypt’s president punishes Hamas, Jihadi Islami in Gaza, fires up strife in Palestinian government

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 7, 2014/President of Egypt Abdul-Fattah El-Sisi, even before taking the oath of office Sunday June 8, became the first regime head to strike out at the Palestinian unity government installed in Ramallah on June 24, by intensifying the siege on its Gaza partner, Hamas. His steps threaten to stir up strife between the two newly reconciled Palestinian partners over who calls the shots in the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report. El-Sisi acted expeditiously to refute the claims by Palestinian Authority sources in Ramallah and Hamas officials in Gaza City that he would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egyptian Sinai as soon as the new Palestinian government was in place, as a gesture of support. The answer they received from from Cairo to their request was that the border terminals would remain open only if PA security forces from Ramallah assumed control of the borders and officiated at the crossings. But Hamas has no intention of handing this strategic resource over to Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah. A standoff has therefore developed between the two partners, souring the amity they have strived to display. Any PA bid to take over control of the Gaza crossings would be forcibly resisted by Hamas, a clash that could spell the end of their reconciliation and power-sharing deal.
Not only has Cairo kept the Rafah crossing shut, it has beefed up military oversight on its borders with Gaza to prevent incursions at any point. A law has been drafted moreover by the Egyptian authorities setting out long prison sentences for anyone attempting to “prepare, dig or use” a tunnel connecting Egypt to a foreign “entity” or nation (i.e. Hamas or the Palestinian government) for the passage of goods or persons.
By these actions, Egypt has begun tightening its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Friday, June 6, Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu phoned the incoming Egyptian president to congratulate him on winning the national election. Both Israeli and Egyptian officials declined to comment on the supposition that Cairo’s steps for sealing the Gaza borders and taken inside the enclave had been coordinated with Israel.
The former Egyptian general only stated pointedly that new opportunities had opened up for strengthening the peace pact with Israel. He did not elaborate on this. But DEBKAfile’s sources reveal that Israel has contracted to supply Egypt with 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually from its Tamar offshore field, to meet the economy’s desperate shortage of energy. Israel, which already sells gas to Jordan, will shortly become Egypt’s biggest gas supplier. Our sources add that El-Sisi’s clampdown on Hamas ties in with the heavy Egyptian military deployment on its western border with Libya, and his determination to put a stop to the flow of smuggled weapons to the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip into the hands of Islamist terrorists.
Cairo recently received an intelligence tip-off that a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders on the run had set up base in the Gaza Strip to engineer terrorist attacks on the Egyptian army, especially in Cairo and the Suez coastal cities. Cairo is meting out harsh treatment not only to Hamas, but also to the pro-Iranian Palestinian Jihad Islami. Egyptian military intelligence made it clear to these extremists that, since their military wing now rivals Hamas’s militia, the Ezz a-Din Al-Qassam, its leader Mohammed Al-Hindi, a personal enemy of El-Sisi, must go.
If not, Cairo will bar its members' travel between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, thereby cutting them off from their ties to Iran and the Arab world. This week, Jhad Islami knuckled under and replaced Al-Hindi with a new Gaza leader, Nafez Assam. Mahmoud Abbas will try, when he visits Cairo next Tuesday to attend El-Sisi’s inauguration as president, to obtain clear answers about his intentions. If Egypt mainains its current restrictions on the Gaza Strip and Hamas into the future, the Palestinians will be unable to hold the elections for president and parliament that are scheduled for Jan. 2, 2015 in the two territories. This will place the survival of the power-sharing government in Ramallah in grave doubt.

Legend of U.S. bias to Muslim Brotherhood dispelled
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Dr. Fahmy Howeidy/Al Arabiya
Barack Obama sold the Muslim Brotherhood after Sisi was elected president of Egypt. This is the message readers will get from Ash-Shourouk's June 5 headline "Obama turns the Brotherhood page and extends his hand to Sisi." The editor gleaned the headline from the statement the White House issued the day before and in which it said it looks forward to working with Sisi to improve strategic partnership and many other interests between the two countries.
The White House's announcement reflects an opinion that differs from what Egyptian media outlets have expressed over the past 10 months. Some of them marketed the idea that the American administration was biased to the Brotherhood and some hinted that the C.I.A. had from time to time colluded with other countries to destabilize Egypt and bring Mohammad Mursi to power. Some went as far as saying that the American intelligence was not far from assassinating Sisi. It's been also said that Obama's brother has a relation with the Brotherhood’s international organization.
“The White House's announcement reflects an opinion that differs from what Egyptian media outlets have expressed over the past 10 months.”
The White House statement casts doubt in terms of the information that has been marketed over the past 10 months regarding Washington's stance. This background was not overlooked by the daily editor who in the introduction to the White House statement wrote that the American president has "temporarily" folded the page on the Brotherhood. This means that Obama may return to his previous stances at a later time. I see this as a sort of simplification which is characteristic of the Egyptian media. This shows willingness to turn disputes into rivalry. The latter develops into conspiracy thanks to media rhetoric and a virtual battle thus erupts out of nothing.
I don't trust the American policy which is governed by complex domestic factors. What I understand is that the Obama administration had a different evaluation of what happened on July 3 and saw the events on that day as a coup against an elected authority. According to U.S. law, this imposes restraints on the authority - restraints that prevent it from cooperating with the new situation. Therefore, its stance back then was more an act of commitment than an act of bias toward the Brotherhood.
Change of course?
When Sisi was elected president, the U.S. considered that since there was an election it could itself of its legal commitments. This allowed for the restoration of bilateral cooperation to what they formerly hasd been. This reading allows us to say that the American policy hasn't changed. It didn't fold a page and open another. It remained committed to the law in both cases but we are the ones who condemned it when it disagreed with us and who commended it when it supported us.
There are many other legends of this kind in which those who disagreed with us were categorized as enemies. What is said about British media in Egypt is another example. When BBC broadcast some of the concealed news about Egypt and particularly about victims of protests, an Egyptian daily said in its April 1 edition that BBC's act is due to the station's historical enmity with Egypt since the Suez War of 1956. The daily added that BBC "sacrificed all values, traditions and professional ethics and brought back this hostility [toward Egypt]. [BBC] has exposed its ugly face of bias toward the Brotherhood..." etc.
Marketing legends
The irony is that our media marketed the legend of Gulf support to Islamist groups and Salafists in Egypt for a long time. But experience has shown that Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. oppose these groups and stand with those calling for eliminating them from political life. It's not only that, but what we currently see now is that both countries strongly support the camp that includes symbols of secularists, leftists, liberals and so-called civil powers.
The legends don't end here because rhetoric is instilled in many other ironies. When the majority voted in favor of the previous regime, this was explained as surrender to temptation and bribes. But when many people did not show up to vote during the first day of the recent election, the Egyptian people were described as ignorant and ungrateful. When the Egyptian people responded to the call to mandate Sisi in July 2013 and took to the streets singing and cheering, they were considered great people capable of achieving miracles, of bedazzling the world and of making history.
It's not only the problem of a media that adapts the news to serve politics. The real problem is represented in the democracy crisis which annulled the culture of variety and ignored the other opinion building an enmity with it. But there's another face to the problem brought up by this question: If coincidence allowed us to figure out the reality of some common political legends, how can the society differentiate between what's an imagined legend and what's purely true?
**This article was first published in Ashourouk on June 8, 2014.